STORRS — R.J. Evans was admittedly stunned that he played 28 minutes in UConn's victory over Michigan State on Friday night. He might have figured those important minutes and the six important points he scored would result in as much playing time Tuesday night against Vermont.

Evans played 17 minutes in the 67-49 victory in the Gampel Pavilion home opener. He had no complaints. He'd be the first to admit that he didn't expect anything of any sort when he arrived here to play his final season after three years at Holy Cross.

"I see my role as whatever coach (Kevin Ollie) tells me to do," Evans said. "Whenever I get on the court I'm going to play my hardest and help lead my team. Whatever I can do to help the team I'm going to do it. That's what I see my role as."

Evans started 89 of the 96 games in which he played at Holy Cross. At 22 and having already been through the whole college basketball thing, he could rightfully have expected to play for UConn, a team with a depleted roster, and start right away.

Instead, he has accepted a role coming off the bench and has been a stabilizing force through two games. He helped get the Huskies going in the first half, provided a nice spark in the second half, hit all five of his shots and finished with 11 points.

He also happens to be the biggest cheerleader the Huskies have. Evans took a chance coming to UConn knowing he will never play in the NCAA Tournament. But the Norwich Free Academy graduate has turned that risk into a well calculated one.

"He's just a stabilizer, a guy that I can go to, I can look to, being consistent," Ollie said. "I know what I'm going to get from R.J. I'm going to get intensity, I'm going to get him to play hard, I'm going to get him to play unselfishly. He's a grown man. He's been through this before."

It is showing early.

Traveling men: Going from place to place isn't exactly unusual for college basketball teams. What UConn is doing early in this season, however, might be labeled as insanity by even the most seasoned traveler.

The Huskies returned from Germany on Saturday. On Thursday, they head to the Virgin Islands for the four-day, three-game paradise jam. By the time they return, the Huskies will have traveled more than 11,000 miles before Thanksgiving.

Typically, UConn doesn't take more than one or two road trips before Big East play begins in either late December or early January. While the Huskies still just have two road trips before the calendar switches to 2013, they are long, brutal trips.

"It presents an obstacle course, but it is what it is," Ollie said.

"We didn't make the schedule. ... I have to be smart and get them off their feet and that's what I plan on doing."

UConn probably won't practice today and will head to the Virgin Islands on Thursday morning.

Ranking, shmanking: Thanks to the victory against Michigan State, the Huskies entered the Associated Press poll Monday at No. 23. It marked their first ranking since late January.

Only guard R.J. Evans cared about the ranking. Having played at Holy Cross before deciding to play his final season at UConn, Evans had never been on a ranked team. Most every other Husky is not impressed.

"I guess it's kind of nice," guard Shabazz Napier said, "but we can't sit on our success. It would mean something to me two years ago but I'm a junior now so it really means nothing to me."

Free throws: UConn and Vermont are the two most successful teams in New England since the start of the 2000-01 season. UConn had won 257 games during that span entering Tuesday night. Vermont had won 215 games. They are the only two New England schools with at least eight 20-win seasons in the last decade ... The Catamounts have played in the postseason eight times in the last 10 years, including five NCAA Tournament trips ... UConn's assistant coaches — George Blaney, Glen Miller and Karl Hobbs — have a combined 57 years of head coaching experience and 860 victories.

They all also were members of the UConn staff for at least one of the three national championships.

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